What restless legs feel like
Restless legs syndrome, often shortened to RLS, is the urge to move your legs when you are lying still, usually in the evening or just as you try to fall asleep. Women describe it as crawling, tingling, aching or a kind of electric itch deep in the calves. Moving the legs eases it for a moment, then it comes back. It is common, it often gets worse with age, and for many women over 60 the biggest cost is the sleep it takes away.
Dr. Martin has his own name for it. He calls it the heebie jeebies of the legs: you go to sleep, but your legs do not. He knows the feeling first hand.
He had them himself
On this episode he talks about restless legs not as a doctor reading a chart, but as someone who lived with them.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1700I have personal experience of restless leg syndrome. I used to suffer from it.
He says it was about 35 years ago, and that it could be a major disruption. Night after night it was the same pattern.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1700I go to bed. I tried to go to sleep and my legs wouldn't.
Being in natural medicine, he tried a lot of things. What eventually worked for him was not something he took for his legs at all, and it is the reason he came to his view on what causes the problem.
Why he blames circulation
Ask him what restless legs actually are and his answer is about blood supply, not nerves or muscles.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1700It's microcirculation in my opinion. Okay? Those little capillaries in your legs, not enough blood supply, in my opinion.
Notice that he frames it as his opinion, twice, and he is careful to say his conclusion comes from his own experience and from what he saw in patients. Microcirculation is the blood flow through the smallest vessels in the body, the capillaries that reach muscle, skin and nerve tissue. The legs sit furthest from the heart, and when those tiny vessels are not delivering enough blood, in his view, the legs complain about it, most of all at night when you are lying still.
This is also why the problem tends to show up more after 60. Circulation in the small vessels is one of the things that slows with age, and many women notice cold feet, slow healing and heavy legs at the same stage of life. He covers the wider picture of blood flow in how to improve circulation after 60.
"I go to bed. I tried to go to sleep and my legs wouldn't."
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1700What made his go away
The story starts with his wife. Many years ago a colleague told him about pine bark extract from Europe and the research behind it. He ordered some and gave it to his wife first, who had chronic fatigue syndrome. He says the change in her was dramatic within a few days: her brain fog lifted and she had more energy. He went on to write about it and to use it in his practice.
At first there was only enough for her. A few months later, once he had his own supply, he started taking it too. He was not taking it for his legs. He was taking it simply because he finally had enough of it.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1700But you know what happened within a few days of me taking it, I didn't have restless Legs Syndrome anymore. Gone.
He says he had to stop and think about what he had changed, and the only thing was the pine bark. That product became Navitol, a name he says comes from the Latin for energy. His restless legs, he says, have never come back.
He does not oversell it. In the same episode he is plain that it did not work for everyone.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1700Not everybody that took Navitol got rid of their restless legs, but thousands did.
He says he had the testimonies to back that up, and that he recommends it big time for restless legs. For him it fits the circulation explanation: if the root of the problem is blood supply in the small vessels, something that supports microcirculation is where he would start.
The Parkinson's link
The reason he raised restless legs on this episode at all was a new study. It reported a correlation between restless legs syndrome and Parkinson's disease, with people who get restless legs more likely to develop Parkinson's later on. The researchers pointed to dopamine as the possible link. He says he does not know so much about that part.
What he does connect is circulation and the brain. In his years of practice, he says, the Parkinson's patients he saw almost always had a leaky gut, low vitamin D, low B12 and heavy metals, and he believed the same weak barriers that let things through the gut wall let them through the blood brain barrier as well. For Parkinson's he also recommended pine bark, because he says it crosses the blood brain barrier and raises glutathione, which he found extremely low in those patients.
None of that means restless legs lead to Parkinson's. A correlation in a study is not a diagnosis. But his message from the study is simple.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 1700And the correlation that this study is showing is if you got restless legs, you better be aware, okay? You better be aware.
Where to start after 60
Pull his points together and you get a short, practical list for a woman over 60 whose legs will not settle at night.
- Take it seriously. Do not write it off as a nuisance. He wants you aware of it, given what the study found.
- Think circulation. His view is that the small vessels in the legs are not getting enough blood. Supporting microcirculation is where he starts.
- Protect your sleep. The whole problem shows up at bedtime, and lost sleep carries its own costs. There is more on that in why can't I sleep after 60.
- Look after the gut and liver. In this episode he ties leaky gut and a fatty liver to the wider picture, and he says cutting sugar and refined carbohydrate is how you empty the liver.
If you take medication or have a diagnosed condition, talk to your own doctor before adding anything. He would say the same.
Common questions
What causes restless legs in women over 60?
Dr. Martin's view is microcirculation: not enough blood supply reaching the small capillaries in the legs. Circulation in the small vessels tends to slow with age, which is one reason the problem often shows up or gets worse after 60.
Did Dr. Martin ever have restless legs?
Yes. He says he suffered from them about 35 years ago. His went away within a few days of starting pine bark extract, which became Navitol, and he says they have never come back.
Does pine bark extract work for everyone with restless legs?
No, and he says so. Not everybody who took Navitol got rid of their restless legs, he says, but thousands did.
Are restless legs linked to Parkinson's?
A study he discusses found a correlation, with people who have restless legs more likely to develop Parkinson's later. That is a link in a study, not a diagnosis, but his advice is to be aware of it.
What worked for his own legs
He puts restless legs down to poor microcirculation, and his own went away within days of starting pine bark extract. Martin Clinic's Navitol Ultra Strength is that pine bark formula.
60-day money-back guarantee. Formulated in clinic.These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult your healthcare practitioner before starting a new supplement, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.
